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Eldert was a published author, speaker, and a professional numismatist for over 40 years. He was a collector of history for as long as anyone can remember. He achieved the level of Eagle Scout in 1970. The same year he began his professional numismatic career, working part time for a local coin shop. In 1972, he graduated from Grosse Pointe North High School and he started his own business selling US, ancient and medieval coins. He graduated the University of Michigan in 1976 with a Baccalaureate degree in Mechanical Engineering. He immediately went on to become a program manager in Automobile Emissions and Fuel Economy for the EPA. He worked his way up to eventually retire from the EPA as the President of the Emission Compliance Consultants. While working for the EPA, he began building the company, many of us know him for, Pegasi Numismatics, which was launched in 1982. He partnered with Nick Economopolous in 1994 to establish the Pegasi Numismatics that is known around the world and still successfully running to this day.

Pegasi Numismatics was elected member of the I.A.P.N. in 2003 by the General Assembly of Munich. Since then, Eldert had played an active role in the Association by attending most of the annual General Assemblies, including the last one in Carefree. He was a fine member, quiet and clever.

Eldert had many interests other than coin collecting. He had a profound love of Poker. He enjoyed taking trips to Vegas and other casinos around Michigan where he could be found at the poker table! He loved playing the game, but anyone who has had the pleasure of talking with him would know that he always joked about having bad luck! He travelled to many places around the world often seeking a concert, play or museum along the way.

Eldert enjoyed spending time with his family. He loved gathering for Holidays and spending the day at the family cottage. He is survived by a brother Paul Bontekoe (Susan Bontekoe) and sister Leslie Michalzuk (Ken Michalzuk). He was very proud of his nephews/niece and great nephews/niece as well: Jaime Bontekoe (;Lily Bontekoe, Isaac August Bontekoe), Jessica Dinda (David Dinda), Kenneth Michalzuk (Lauren Donovan) and Kevin Michalzuk (Amanda Michalzuk; Henry Michalzuk).

Eldert was a published author, speaker, and a professional numismatist for over 40 years. He was a collector of history for as long as anyone can remember. He achieved the level of Eagle Scout in 1970. The same year he began his professional numismatic career, working part time for a local coin shop. In 1972, he graduated from Grosse Pointe North High School and he started his own business selling US, ancient and medieval coins. He graduated the University of Michigan in 1976 with a Baccalaureate degree in Mechanical Engineering. He immediately went on to become a program manager in Automobile Emissions and Fuel Economy for the EPA. He worked his way up to eventually retire from the EPA as the President of the Emission Compliance Consultants. While working for the EPA, he began building the company, many of us know him for, Pegasi Numismatics, which was launched in 1982. He partnered with Nick Economopolous in 1994 to establish the Pegasi Numismatics that is known around the world and still successfully running to this day.

Pegasi Numismatics was elected member of the I.A.P.N. in 2003 by the General Assembly of Munich. Since then, Eldert had played an active role in the Association by attending most of the annual General Assemblies, including the last one in Carefree. He was a fine member, quiet and clever.

Eldert had many interests other than coin collecting. He had a profound love of Poker. He enjoyed taking trips to Vegas and other casinos around Michigan where he could be found at the poker table! He loved playing the game, but anyone who has had the pleasure of talking with him would know that he always joked about having bad luck! He travelled to many places around the world often seeking a concert, play or museum along the way.

Eldert enjoyed spending time with his family. He loved gathering for Holidays and spending the day at the family cottage. He is survived by a brother Paul Bontekoe (Susan Bontekoe) and sister Leslie Michalzuk (Ken Michalzuk). He was very proud of his nephews/niece and great nephews/niece as well: Jaime Bontekoe (;Lily Bontekoe, Isaac August Bontekoe), Jessica Dinda (David Dinda), Kenneth Michalzuk (Lauren Donovan) and Kevin Michalzuk (Amanda Michalzuk; Henry Michalzuk).

Dear Members, / Chers Membres, In the view of the recent events and of the decisions taken overall in the world, it appears that it would be too uncertain to try and maintain our Marseille gathering of the end of May. Au vu des événements récents, et des décisions prises partout dans le monde, il semble trop hasardeux d’essayer de maintenir notre réunion de Marseille de la fin du mois de mai. Therefore, in full agreement with the organisers, we have decided to cancel the General Assembly of Marseille of the end of May 2020.C’est pourquoi, en accord avec les organisateurs, nous avons décidé que l’Assemblée Générale de Marseille de la fin mai 2020 est annulée. We will think about what must and will be done in the full respect of our rules and in the best interest of all, and will let you know as soon as possible. Nous allons réfléchir à ce qui peut et doit être fait dans le plein respect de nos règles et au mieux des intérêts de chacun, et vous en informerons dès que possible. I wish you all to go through those though times as well as possible, and remain,Yours sincerely. Je vous souhaite de traverser ces temps difficiles le mieux possible, et vous adresse mes salutations les meilleures.

UPDATE: The General Assembly of the IAPN 2020 in the city of Marseille, from Thursday May 28th to Sunday May 31st, 2020 has been Canceled.

December 6, 2018 – As soon as you set foot into the great hall of the New York International at the Waldorf-Astoria, you saw their familiar faces. Richard Margolis’s table was always by the windows cater-cornered to the entrance. His display cases always contained an impressive array of rare medals. I never saw Richard being on his own at his table. His wife Sara accompanied him to every coin convention. It was a great pleasure talking to them, especially because they were so very friendly. Any conversation I had with them enriched every visit of the New York International. And I never left their table without having learned something new. Now, Richard Margolis is gone. He passed away after a long illness on November 24, 2018.

Richard Margolis was born in Manhattan on April 21, 1931. His father Benjamin was a dressmaker. His mother Norma, née Germain, was the daughter of a successful real estate developer working in the growing New York City at the beginning of the past century. Max Germain’s great coup was that he purchased properties at Route 4 before the George Washington Bridge was opened. He did not sell the real estate, but instead he let the properties – which is a company policy that his descendants have stuck with. Richard Margolis, too, was supposed to make a living as a real estate broker. After he had finished his studies at Tulane and New York University, he began working as the director of his grandfather’s company. He probably was not too happy about that.

After all, he had caught the bacillus numismaticus at the age of 12. Ever since his university days, he loved French coins and developed a great interest in the medal art of the 19th century. Hence, in 1958, he let realty be realty, and founded his own coin dealership. There was no getting around Richard Margolis if you collected French coins in the United States. For many years, he was the president of the Société Américaine de l’Étude Numismatique Française. In 1973, he published the standard reference work “The Silver Crowns of France 1641-1973”, which remains in wide use in the United States. But he was also a competent person to contact for anyone who loves medals. The magnitude of his knowledge was manifested in an incredible work he published at Kolbe & Fanning in 2015. For decades, Richard Margolis had worked on a marginal field of numismatics: the terra cotta portraits of Benjamin Franklin, which Jean-Baptiste Nini made on behalf of Jacques-Donatien Le Ray. This owner of a pottery factory spread the portrait of Franklin in order to promote the goals of the United States, which was fighting the War of Independence at the time. In this book, Richard Margolis illustrated what it was that he loved so much about numismatics: the countless possibilities of connecting history to concrete objects. Only a few people have mastered the art of observation as he had done. If he showed you a medal you ended up seeing things you had never noticed – and which you probably would not have noticed without his hints.

His decisive importance for the world of numismatics probably originates from a different decision, however. In cooperation with Fritz Weber and Bill Selfridge, he decided to establish a coin fair in New York, which was to be dedicated to ancient and foreign coins only. The fact that they forwent U.S. coins and medals was unprecedented in the United States at the time! The first New York International Numismatic Convention took place in 1972. It was a great success. Richard Margolis and his wife Sara were responsible for its organization for many years. They turned the fair into a haunt of international coin dealers and their U.S.-American colleagues. The fifth convention in 1976 – until 9/11 the fair was held at the beginning of the holiday season – already attracted 85 dealers from ten different countries. Nowadays, you cannot imagine a numismatic calendar without New York International.

I have just been informed that our former member Rüdiger KAISER, from Frankfurt am Main, Germany, passed away on Saturday, December 8th, at his home. You will find attached the official announcement. Rüdiger had been a member of the IAPN since 1991, and had resigned in for health reasons. While he was active, he had been a familiar figure at most German shows and of our congresses. He is survived by his wife Gudrun, his son and our colleague Andreas and his 3 grandchildren. We wish them all strength and courage in those unfortunate circumstances.

Kind regards

Jean-Luc Van der Schueren

In Memoriam Rüdiger Kaiser

July 5, 1940 – December 8, 2018

Rüdiger Kaiser was born on July 5, 1940 in Berlin as the oldest of five children. His father, Friedrich Kaiser (1907-1979) served as a Wehrmacht officer in the High Command of the Army. After the blitzkrieg against France in May and June of 1940 and the occupation of the Benelux countries and Norway, the German Reich was at the height of its military power in mid-1940. When young Rüdiger was born, nobody knew what catastrophe was about to befall millions of people in Europe. At the end of the war, Friedrich Kaiser was taken prisoner by the British and was ordered by the English military government to work in one of the bomb disposal squads. His daughter Ute, born in 1941, remembers how the family, who lived in the small village of Lopesettel, which has since been turned into the military training area Munster-Lager (Lüneburg Heath), did not only fear for her father on a daily basis, but also her brothers who went out and played with the dangerous war equipment. Perhaps that is the reason why Rüdiger Kaiser later decided to make use of his constitutional right to refuse to perform military service.

After their father had worked at the marine weather service in Hamburg in 1952 and 1953, he found a new job as a teacher in Babenhausen (Hesse) in 1954, where the family then moved.

Rüdiger Kaiser completed his Abitur in Groß-Umstadt and then went off to study classical philology in Frankfurt am Main with the goal of becoming a Greek and Latin teacher. It was first and foremost the professor of ancient history Konrad Kraft (1920-1970) who got the young student excited about ancient history.

It was a lucky coincidence that the numismatists Peter N. Schulten and Dieter Raab, who had taken over the renowned Frankfurt-based coin dealership Dr. Busso Peus in 1967, were looking for a new employee with expert knowledge of ancient history to help out with reorganizing their library. Rüdiger Kaiser worked in that position at Dr. Peus Nachfolger until 1972.

The idea of opening his own coin dealership in Frankfurt would not have been possible without the generous help of his loving aunt Tata. Dr. Hildegard Bernhardt from Berlin (1913-1985), a sister of Rüdiger Kaiser’s mother Lieselotte Kaiser who passed away at 53-years-old already (1912-1965), offered him a guarantee of more than 100,000 DM. Armed with crisp funds, the coin dealership Kaiser in Frankfurt could open its doors, first at Habsburger Allee, later at Wolfsgangstraße, and finally at Mittelweg, where Gudrun and Rüdiger Kaiser acquired a house which was both the residence and office of the family and their son Andreas.

Rüdiger Kaiser was a straightforward and thoroughly decent businessman, an honest partner with his customers’ interests in mind. This attitude, which embodied Prussian virtues in the best possible way, is what made him so successful so quickly. Many customers placed their trust in him, including the former East Prussian landowner Alexander Fürst zu Dohna-Schlobitten, who moved to Basel after the war to start a new dry cleaning business.

The Kaiser family suffered a few blows of fate. An outsider cannot imagine the severe personal ramifications of the two robberies that occurred in the late 1980s and in June of 1993. Rüdiger Kaiser was a born fighter, however, and continued to firmly hold his ground.

A well-trained German shepherd dog was added to the family as a security measure. The animal was a lifelong commitment and accompanied him wherever he went. The dog became a loyal companion and Rüdiger Kaiser wholeheartedly accepted the responsibility. Rüdiger Kaiser was sociable man; he enjoyed attending auctions and conferences, both of the Verband der Deutschen Münzenhändler as well as the IAPN (International Association of Professional Numismatists). There was just one condition: in order to not have to leave his dog alone, Rüdiger Kaiser only travelled to places that could be reached by car.

He managed his business for 45 years. It was not easy for him when he had to retire due to health issues.

Along with his own coin dealing business, Rüdiger Kaiser also did a lot of volunteer work he deserves acknowledgement and respect for. From 1977 on, he worked as the treasurer of the Verband der Deutschen Münzenhändler e.V. for many years, from 1984 until 1995, he was editor-in-chief of Geldgeschichtliche Nachrichten, and he was also a longstanding sworn expert for coins at the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Frankfurt.

The German numismatic community has lost one of its outstanding characters. Whatever Rüdiger Kaiser said carried weight; he was not one to indulge in small talk. His unobtrusive manner and his personal modesty characterized him as an old-school coin dealer. Reliable, honest, knowledgeable – and in no way narcissistic. That is how we will remember him.

After Jille’s own will, this will be used as his obituary. As unusual as it might seem, he wrote it himself and sent it to me in September 2017.

Born 1950 (actually July 7th, 1950 in Woudsend) from a middle-class family, son of a garage owner. The passion for collecting was transmitted soon from his father.

Everything which youngsters collect, stamps, cigar bands, boxes of matches and of course coins. Attended antiquities auctions at a very early age. Created a service of new stamps supply when he was 14.

One of his First coin auctions he attended was the one of the firm J.C.A van Loon in 1967. There he bought after the sale a quarter gulden piece of 1817 for 350,= NLG (recent result € 70.000,=) because he thought it was cheap; at the same time the price for a piece of 3 Gulden Willem I was also 300,= NLG.

After he left the middle-class school, he was active in the handling of textile, Persian carpets among others.

After his military service, in 1972, he decided to open his own business under the name “De Sneeker Vlieger” [“the pilot from Sneek”]. He attended regularly coin fairs and auctions, and went almost every week to Amsterdam, where he became a friend of Jaap Schulman.

This one sponsored him for membership to the IAPN. His speciality was the coinage of Dutch provinces, and especially of Friesland. He put together the biggest collection of those ever. Those went mostly (over 700 coins) to the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden.

His offering of medals amounted to about 10,000, classified by country and theme.

First fixed price list 1981

First auction in co-operation with his old friend and colleague Arie van der Dussen in Maastricht 1984-1986, then auctions for his own name since 1987.

Member of the I.A.P.N. since 1985.

Co-auteur with D. Purmer of the “het Handboek Nederlandse Muntslag 1568-1795” [pocket-book of the coinage of the Netherlands].

Took the initiative and co-redactor of the catalogue “Johannes Cornelis Wienecke 1872-1945, medailleur en stempelsnijder 2017”.

Many terms as president of the N.V.M.H [Dutch association of coin dealers] and founder of the numismatic club “Mr. Jacob Dirks”.

Member of the Belgian Association [Belgian Society for Numismatics] and representative of the N.V.M.H. to the FENAP [European federation of national coin trade associations].

Jean Luc,

You have to find yourself a final word, as I am still alive, even if I am (I was?)seriously ill.

Best regards.

What should I add? Exceptional man, as everybody who had meet him could realize, horse-lover, passionate about art in general, numismatics in particular, gifted artist himself, dandy, very eccentric chap, too-much smoker and drinker, always interesting to listen to: a “rare vogel” [rare bird]as they say in Dutch. Even his obituaries and this note speak better than everything else. We will remember him!

Bjarne Ahlström was born in Stockholm, 30th of November 1938. He passed away the 12th of September 2017 in his apartment on Narvavägen, Stockholm.

Bjarne Ahlström´s father John was a very important stamp-collector (philatelist). Thus Ahlström had the understanding for collecting, but his career was supposed to be as a Diplomat.

In 1954 Bjarnes Ahlström´s brother, Bernth Ahlström, started the company B. Ahlström Mynthandel AB. In the late 1950´s, Bjarne took over the company. In 1972 B. Ahlström Mynthandel held their first auction. Through the years 1972-2004 the company held 71 auctions. From the very beginning Ahlström´s auction catalogues were highly well-produced, regarding both numismatic information as well as layout and presentation of the marketed items.

Bjarne Ahlström had the privilege to sell several fine collections during his time as an auctioneer. The most remarkable may be The Gunnar Ekström collection. Bjarne decided along with Wera Ekström, the widow of Gunnar Ekström, to start a foundation for numismatic research in the name of Gunnar Ekström, Gunnar Ekströms stiftelse för numismatisk forskning.

In 1967 the first edition of Sveriges besittningsmynt (translated “Coins of the Swedish Possessions”) was released – which was a modern and groundbreaking publication. The second edition was published the year 1980 and it is still the main reference book regarding these coins. The modern Swedish coins got its reference book in 1976 – Sveriges mynt 1521-1977 (translated “Coins of Sweden 1521-1977”). The same year he also published Norges mynter (translated “The Coinage of Norway”).

Late in 2004 Bjarne Ahlström sold his auction company to Thomas Høiland (from Denmark). Unfortunately for Ahlström, Høiland liquidated the company only three years later.

When Bjarne wasn’t at work, he preferred to stay at his beloved country mansion Siggenäs – a much needed contrast to the business life´s hectic speed and seriousness.

He had been elected member of the IAPN in 1969 and had organized the General Assembly in Stockholm in 1992.